When Fates Collide
by spheeris1
Summary: I do not own title, characters or show! :: First part is thoughts of Xena and Gabrielle after the play and when they watch each other from the balconies. Then I move into a 'what if...' moment... X/G


When Fates Collide

Gabrielle is sure that they have met before, but... when? How? The face before her conjures up such feelings in the playwright.

Feelings like calm and peace and want and love... but how can that be? Gabrielle has just met this Xena, the empress of Rome and wife to Caesar. This beauty with blue eyes and a voice like velvet... Gabrielle feels a blush creep up her neck.

_I have never felt this way. No one has caused such a rush of emotion in me... dear Gods, do not let her see..._

Xena cannot help but to watch the young woman. From the moment their eyes met, balcony to stage, Xena was caught. Other times of such interest, all that was felt was a determination born of a need to conquer... Xena felt no such need this time.

It was pure desire and longing and love. The playwright's eyes were warm and inviting, her voice sure and steady... Xena swayed with it all, as if in a tide. And this Gabrielle... Xena is sure Gabrielle is the ocean. And Xena wants to dive in.

_This feeling is so different and new. I have never felt so captivated before... I wonder if she can see this need on my face..._

Gabrielle tries to forget, letting warm water pour over her. Gabrielle tells herself not to get interested in this woman, this married woman, this leader of warriors...

_I should be thinking of the prestige of showing my play to Rome, of this beautiful night, of this silken sheet wrapped about me..._

But all Gabrielle can think of is Xena. And, as if thoughts could bring the woman forth, there Xena is... Just across from Gabrielle... And the woman stares right into Gabrielle, as if seeing Gabrielle's soul.

It is like whatever love Xena once felt for Caesar is gone. His touch leaves her cold and, when looking into his eyes, Xena feels only... only... nothing.

Xena hopes that the cool night air will clear her mind, but the starry skies only deliver that which Xena can barely understand... and that which Xena wants...

_Gabrielle... Even more beautiful in this moonlight... And what is this feeling in me? This urge to not let her see me, to not let the shadows be moved and reveal such longing in my eyes..._

Xena cannot stay hidden, though. She moves into Gabrielle's gaze and watches the playwright, unabashedly. And Xena feels a tendril of recognition wind from her own blue eyes to the green eyes of... of...

_Of my Beloved._

As they look at each other, Xena feels her feet move of their own accord. Out of her bedchamber, down the long and cool hall... until she feels dirt under her feet. Some other time and on some other night, perhaps Xena would have thought of shoes... or, even more importantly, of her husband...

But Xena does not care. All she can feel is the tug in her heart, this rope of want pulling her toward the playwright's room.

_She looked away...maybe she does not want me to come to her..._

Xena shoves that thought away quickly, though a nervous anticipation is pounding in heart... nervous because she does not truly believe Gabrielle would push her away at all.

_She looked away, not from disinterest... from the same reason I almost hid from her... from the intensity that is shared between us..._

And that intensity returns, once Xena puts her hand to Gabrielle's door and green eyes meet blue... Gazes locked, just like the moment they first saw each other.

Xena wants to say so much, but the words get caught in her throat. Only a sigh, one born of finally finding home and rest and completion, escapes her lips.

Gabrielle leans against the wall in her room. She can feel her own heart as it beats, too rapidly... much too rapidly... And all from Xena watching her.

Gabrielle finds herself too swept away to fight the urge anymore, to fight this overwhelming love pouring out of her heart.

_But love does not happen this quickly... I write about such love... but to happen to me? Like this? It cannot be._

Yet, Gabrielle finds these worries to be fleeting. She knows that Xena is coming to her, though how she gained this knowledge... That is a mystery.

Her eyes flutter shut for a moment as rational mind tries to gain control once more. Gabrielle has to laugh to herself... The rational mind rarely wins out.

_Love does happen like this, just as I have written it... With looks, with understanding, with a willingness to die for love... oh sweet Gods, this is love I am feeling now... for the first time..._

Then Xena is there, right before her. Gabrielle cannot form words as she is struck, once again, by Xena's beauty. The woman's raven hair down, ivory skin exposed... and blue eyes so full of longing...

Xena sighs and the thin armor over Gabrielle's heart shatters.

"_I...couldn't sleep... can you?"_

"_Sleep? No, not at all..."_

And they smile at each other, almost shyly.

"_Would you like to walk around the grounds?"_

"_...Are you sure?"_

"_Yes."_

Xena takes Gabrielle's hand in her own, their fingers interlacing. And they walk, for hours or for seconds, neither can tell. They do not speak often. As if words are no longer needed, not for the two of them...

Clouds pass over the moon and they are fully in nighttime. Gabrielle tightens her hold of Xena's hand ever so slightly. And that, too, feels familiar and right.

"_Are you scared?"_

"_Not of the night..."_

Before the moon is bright once more and the buildings of Rome become visible, they stop walking... And they step closer to each other, close enough to hear the others breathing, to hear the others heart beating...

Moving in tandem, they kiss. And it is all a kiss should be... sweet and infinite, with hints of a deeper passion lurking along the tongue. And love, that is there as well. Love and want and knowing... All there in one kiss.

The moonlight returns. Xena knows nothing will ever be the same for her as Gabrielle's face comes back into view. And Gabrielle puts such dangerous thoughts aside... for now... for now, they have found each other.


End file.
